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Martha Sanchez, a South Los Angeles activist and mother who mobilized her South Los Angeles community to close a toxic manufacturing plant, has been chosen as Healthy Child Healthy World’s second “Mom on a Mission” finalist. The program, in its fourth year, recognizes parents who are taking extraordinary measures to protect children’s environmental health.
“Martha is so inspiring to all of us—she didn’t let anything deter her mission to keep her kids healthy and she changed her entire community in the process,” said Rachel Lincoln Sarnoff, the organization’s executive director. “Healthy Child has been inspiring this type of activism for nearly 20 years, and it’s so gratifying to meet someone like Martha, who truly puts words into action.”
After Sanchez’s family moved into the neighborhood, her three children began suffering from nosebleeds, rashes and asthma caused by contamination from a nearby metal plating plant, located across the street from the neighborhood school. Sanchez began by knocking on doors and asking if her neighbors were experiencing similar symptoms. In the eight years that followed, she learned English, became chapter president of the Alliance for Californians for Community Empowerment, and worked with officials to investigate the plant, which emitted toxic chemicals such as cadmium, cyanide and chromium into the environment. Today, Sanchez is enrolled in college and working with developers to convey community expectations as they build a low-income housing project and job/community center on the site.
"Most leaders who start fighting and trying to change something die before they see the results," said Sanchez. "I thought that would happen to me as well. But it didn’t stop me from knocking on my neighbors’ doors so we could work together to protect the health of our children. I knew if I didn't get involved or left the problem in someone else's hands, the toxic situation in our community would not get resolved," she said.
Nominations are open to find eight extraordinary parents working within their communities to create healthier, happier environments for children and families. From January through August, we will select and honor a finalist each month who will enter the running to become our 2012 Mom on a Mission. Will any of them be a mom in your life? Nominate her today! Submissions are open on a rolling basis.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/checblog/~3/bZPa2bWFvvA/
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